Spotting Boyds Forest Dragon?

[VasO]

Hey guys

My partner and I recently when to Mossman gorge north of Cairns in the hope of finding some Boyds forest dragons, it became painfully clear we had planned the trip too early after winter (our excuse) as during the two days we only spotted one dragon and it was still a fair way up the tree.

I was looking for advice from anyone who has experience in going out and looking for these dragons. Our trip was a quick "pilot study" for a PHD project to see if we could spot and catch them when it came to it.

Any help would be great

 

[Erebos]

i seem to see them all the time in canberra HAHAHA.
sorry but no exsperience in the real world of herping

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

im sure some local herpos could assist in locating and capturing dragons for a Phd which is a worthy cause.
otherwise prsistance in the field is the answer,just keep looking,and looking and looking.

 

[mcbuggsy]

I have been there on at least 3 occasions in the recent past..and there are plenty there.
The trick is to travel in pairs as they will (like the Southern Angle heads,) try to keep the tree between you and them. With 2 of you spaced a couple of metres apart, they can only dodge one of you.
They generally sit about 1 to 1.5 metres off the ground.

 

[Waterrat]

VasO, I wonder if you are aware of Geordie Torr's PhD work on ecology of H. boydii. Unfortunately, he never submitted his theses (I think) because he got a job in UK and never got back to it submit. Prof. Ross Alford at JCU was his supervisor, you may like to have a chat to him about Geordie's studies. His study sites were Mossman Gorge and Paluma, he used spooling to determine their home ranges and activity patterns amongst other things. I know he was never allowed (by QPWS) to use PIT tags to mark his animals, the conditions on his permit were pretty stringent from what I can remember.

It's best to look for boyds at night with a spotlight. They sit on thin tree trunks and are highly visible in the light and don't turn around the trunks as they do in daytime when beeing watched. Of course, the height of summer is the best time to look for them. Cape Tribulation is another good spot for them.

 

[VasO]

mcbuggsy - we were walking thru with 3 people and still couldnt see them, though we werent strictly working together. After we found the 1st one, which was at least 5m from the ground when I saw it, we started looking higher up the tree as we read they stay higher during winter though we did still check the whole tree. Would Temperature be a factor this time of year? even during the day? and what does recent past mean? few months ago? weeks?

Michael - yes my girlfriend (who is starting the phd) found Geordie's work and contacted him directly, alot of the information we were using came from him, including where we were most likely to find them and get an "eye in" for their shape on the tree's. I think we knew summer would be the best time but her supervisor pushed this trip to determine if she could even find them... Would there be any sites on the table lands which have an abundance of the dragons?

Vas

 

[Waterrat]

Mt. Lewis is a good place, you find them (mainly gravid females) sitting on the road. There are some around Lake Barrine but Cape Trib would be the best spot. There are 3-4 extensive boardwalks where you find them regularly and also the Coopers Creek Wilderness have quite a few on their property.

 

[VasO]

Thanks Michael, she is heading out there tonight
Anyone else with any tips or info

 

[mcbuggsy]

Sorry VasO ..missed that post. I don't know whether they would be higher during winter...I am from south of Sydney and have only been up there during Spring /Summer. They may well go higher during cooler weather. And yes, I didn't mention that the thinner trees/vines seem to be more favourite haunts.. sorry about that.
And usually once you "get your eye in" you start to see plenty more......
Not so much with regards to Boyds, but there are plenty of spinipes near O'Sullivans Gap in NSW and also around O'Reillys Guest House on the Lamington Plateau.

 

[gus11]

Who is she doing her Phd with?
There is a student at jcu currently doing a masters on forest dragons in townsville arnaud gourett, he may be worth contacting. forest dragons are everywhere on the table lands, Its not to hard to get 4-5 an hour if you know what your looking for. Could you PM me some details on what she is doing and I'll send you some specifics

Gus